India has reported 6,088 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, increasing the country's total number of infections to 118,447. The death toll rose to 3,583.

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05:59 PM

Railways to use 60% of its converted isolation coaches lying idle to operate Shramik Special trains

The Railways has decided to use 60% of the 5,200 isolation coaches meant for coronavirus-infected people to run Shramik Special trains.

Officials said that these non-AC coaches will not be reconverted into normal coaches, but will be used as "they are" for these services.

Officials said that since these coaches have been lying idle after being converted into isolation wards and were yet to be deployed, the railways have decided to use them to operate the migrant special services.

05:47 PM

It's only a pause, more steps to come to deal with COVID-19 crisis: Anurag Thakur

The government has only taken a pause and more measures will be announced in the days to come to help sectors hit by the coronavirus outbreak and also to make India ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat', Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said.

05:46 PM

Lawyers' chambers at Saket District Court to open in phased manner from Friday

After two months of lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic in the country, lawyers' chambers at Saket District Courts complex in Delhi would reopen in a phased manner from May 23 while ensuring complete adherence to the norms of social-distancing, according to a directive on Friday.

05:37 PM

Karnataka: 138 new COVID19 positive cases reported in the state from May 21, 5pm to 5pm today.

Taking the total number of cases in the state to 1743 including 597 discharges.

05:29 PM

Bihar: 118 more COVID19 positive cases reported, tally rises to 2,105

05:28 PM

Arrangements to be made for online darshan of temples in Uttarakhand

At the first meeting of 'Uttarakhand Chardham Devsthanam', it was decided that arrangements will be made to facilitate devotee for online darshan of temples: Uttarakhand Govt

05:25 PM

Kerala records largest single day rise in COVID-19 cases with 42 cases today.

Out of 42 positive cases reported today, 17 returned from abroad & 21 returned from Maharashtra.

The total number of positive cases in the state is now 732 including 216 active cases.

05:24 PM

5 new COVID-19 infections, 5 discharged in UP's Gautam Buddh Nagar

Total cases at 307 and active cases reach 88.

05:23 PM

Around 80% of COVID-19 deaths have been in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi: Govt

05:20 PM

Uttar Pradesh: 263 new cases reported in the last 24 hours

Active cases reach 2,243

3,238 people have recovered from the disease while 138 others lost their lives.

05:17 PM

Over 18.24 lakh labourers have returned to Uttar Pradesh from other states during lockdown: UP Additional Chief Secy

Over 12.33 lakh people have returned by 930 'Shramik Special' trains. The govt has approved 1,199 trains to bring back migrant workers: UP Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi

05:07 PM

According to Public Health Foundation of India, nearly 78,000 lives have been saved due to lockdown: Govt

04:59 PM

Growth rate of COVID-19 cases witnessed steep decline from April 4 when lockdown put brake on speed of increase of cases: Govt

Number of COVID-19 cases would have risen exponentially had lockdown not been implemented: Govt

Doubling rate of COVID-19 cases was 3.4 days when lockdown started; it is 13.3 days at present: Govt

04:59 PM

Like number of cases, the growth rate of number of COVID-19 deaths too has fallen significantly due to lockdown.

- V K Paul, Chairman Empowered Group-1

04:58 PM

Decision of lockdown in India was timely: Govt

Several countries took the decision late and had to bear losses, says govt.

04:56 PM

24 new COVID19 positive cases reported in BSF in the last 24 hours

The total number of active cases in BSF is now 108.

04:55 PM

A special flight brings back 149 Indians to Jaipur from UK's London

04:46 PM

Railways has ferried over 31 lakh migrant workers on board 2,317 Shramik Special trains since May 1

04:45 PM

Newborn twins become Gujarat's youngest coronavirus patients

Twin brother and sister, born six days ago in Gujarat's Mehsana district, have tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the state's youngest patients for the viral infection, an official said on Friday. A woman from Molipur village in the district, who had tested positive for the virus, gave birth to twins at the Vadnagar Civil Hospital on May 16, said Manoj Daxini, district development officer.

04:38 PM

Current active COVID19 cases (as of May 21) are concentrated in a few states and cities/districts: Paul

Around 80% in 5 states, over 60% in 5 cities, over 90% in 10 states and over 70% in 10 cities: VK Paul, Chairman of Empowered Group

On behalf of Govt of India, we appreciate the nation in achieving the milestone of providing 1 crore treatments under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. This is a huge achievement: VK Paul, Chairman of Empowered Group 1

04:32 PM

3,234 patients have recovered in last 24 hours: Health ministry

04:32 PM

48,534 COVID-19 patients, which is about 41% of total cases, have recovered so far: Health Ministry

04:31 PM

Hamirpur: 12 people have tested positive for COVID19 in the district

The total number of COVID19 positive cases in Himachal Pradesh is now 164.

04:30 PM

Today has been the 4th day when more than 1 lakh tests have been done in one day.

- Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, ICMR

04:30 PM

27,55,714 COVID19 tests done till 1 PM today: ICMR

18,287 tests were done in private labs: Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, ICMR

04:20 PM

Quarantine must for domestic air travellers: Kerala govt

"Even if the domestic flight services resume, those coming in must remain under strict home quarantine as per the guidelines. There is no change in that. Most people will be coming from the major hotspots of the country," State Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

E-commerce major Amazon India on Friday said it will add 50,000 'seasonal' or temporary roles to meet the surge in online demand for products, particularly from those most vulnerable to being out in public in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 50,000 seasonal roles will be across its warehousing and delivery network, and the move comes at a time when economic activities and e-commerce operations are slowly chugging back to life outside containment zones, as the country eyes a staggered exit from lockdown, with fewer curbs.

04:17 PM

India faced COVID19 in a proactive and pre-emptive way, with unmatched scale and determination. Today we have a mortality of 3% only. In a country of 1.35 billion, there are only 0.1 million cases of COVID19. The recovery rate is above 40% & doubling rate is 13 days.

- Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister

04:09 PM

"I am aware I am entering this office at a time of global crisis", Dr Harsh Vardhan on taking charge as the chairman of the World Health Organisation Executive Board

I am aware I am entering this office at a time of global crisis on account of this pandemic. At a time, when we all understand that there will be many health challenges in the next 2 decades. All these challenges demand a shared response: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

04:06 PM

Senior railway official tests positive for coronavirus; third case at Rail Bhavan

A senior officer working at Rail Bhavan has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the third such case in the building which is the headquarters of the Indian Railways. The officer was working on the cadre restructuring of the Railway Protection Force Service. She had last come to work on May 13, following which Rail Bhavan was shut down for sanitisation purposes for two days after an RPF staffer tested positive for the disease.

04:04 PM

SC orders reopening of lawyers' chambers in premises from 10 AM to 4 PM on alternate week days based on odd-even scheme.

04:03 PM

The total number of COVID19 positive cases in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is now 105, with 1 person testing positive in the last 24 hours: ITBP

03:54 PM

Intra-state train services after lockdown resume in Karnataka

Intra-state passenger train services resumed in the country on Friday, nearly two months after being suspended due to COVID-19 lockdown, with the operation of three trains in Karnataka, the South Western Railway said. While the Bengaluru-Belagavi triweekly superfast special was the first and left Bengaluru at 8 am, a pair of daily special trains were operated between the city and Mysuru, the South Western Railway said.

03:52 PM

Under 'Shram Siddhi Abhiyan', labourers will be registered under-skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled categories and work will be provided to them accordingly.

Exam roster for ICSE, ISC

Ministry of Home Affairs will now allow travel of certain categories of OCI cardholders to India

Minor children born to Indian nationals abroad, and holding OCI card

Cardholders requiring passage due to emergencies, like death

Couples where one spouse in a national and the other an OCI card holder

University students who are cardholders, but parents are Indian nationals

02:53 PM

Railway reservations open

Reservations for public in all classes of 230 trains connecting various stations

Bookings available online as well as through Railway reservation Counters

Since yesterday, more than 13 lakh passengers have booked tickets

02:44 PM

ICSE & ISC exams

Board to conduct pending class 10, 12 exams from July 1 to 14

Mandatory for candidates to carry sanitiser, wearing gloves optional

02:40 PM

One more case in Manipur, state tally reaches 26

02:15 PM

Pune hospital to use new drug for COVID-19 treatment

At least 25 COVID-19 patients, who are in a semi-critical condition at Pune's government-run Sassoon General Hospital, will be administered tocilizumab, a drug which has proven effective in treating the infection, an official said on Friday.

The new drug, an injection which costs around Rs 20,000, will be given to 25 patients in the first phase and depending on the results, the Pune Municipal Corporation will decide on its further use, municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said.

A special task force of specialist doctors, set up under the chairmanship of Dr D B Kadam, recommended tocilizumab for COVID-19 patients in case their condition worsens, he said.

02:05 PM

Tripura reports 2 new cases

The two came in contact with people who returned to the state from outside recently.

"847 samples have been tested today for COVID-19 & among them, 2 persons detected #POSITIVE. One person at Churaibari Gate & another person was in contact with the previous POSITIVE patients who returned from Chennai," Deb tweeted on Thursday night.

The total number of coronavirus cases now rose to 175, out of which 148 have recovered and two others, who were from Assam, were transferred to their home state, officials said on Friday.

01:53 PM

Air India begins booking of domestic flights

Indian airlines to operate a total of 8,428 flights each week for the next three months from May 25 to August 25, after Central Government announced the resumption of domestic flights, amid lockdown.

01:42 PM

No evidence to show COVID-19 spreads through corpses: HC

The Bombay High Court on Friday said the Mumbai civic corporation has power to designate any cemetery or burial ground for disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims and noted there was no scientific study to show that the novel coronavirus spreads through cadavers.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice S S Shinde made the observations while dismissing a bunch of petitions challenging an April 9 circular issued by the BMC designating 20 burial grounds and cemeteries here for disposing of bodies of persons who died due to COVID-19.

The court noted that the circular issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was in consonance with law and the civic agency had all authority and power to designate burial grounds and cemeteries to dispose of bodies of such patients.

01:26 PM

5 CISF personnel test positive for COVID-19 in Jharkhand

01:25 PM

Maha BJP holds anti-govt protest over COVID-19 handling

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday led the opposition party's state-wide protest against the "failure" of the Shiv Sena-headed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to curb the coronavirus spread in Maharashtra.

Fadnavis along with senior colleague Vinod Tawde and Mumbai BJP president Mangal Prabhat Lodha held protest at the state party office in Nariman point, holding placards and sporting black face mask and black ribbon.

Delhi reports 660 new cases

Karnataka govt collected Rs 3.43 lakh as fine for not wearing masks

The Karnataka government, which has fixed Rs 200 as fine for not wearing masks and covering faces to contain coronavirus spread, has collected Rs 3.43 lakh from 15,000 people as fine from May 5 till date.

"From May 5, the government has collected Rs 3,43,000 by fining 1,715 citizens for nor wearing masks or covering their faces," the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) Commissioner said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the state has reached its target of scaling up to 10,000 tests per day by conducting 11,499 tests on Thursday. In Kalaburagi, where the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the State, conducted over 1000 tests yesterday.

12:36 PM

Relief for autos in TN

Tamil Nadu govt allows plying of autos and cycle rikshaws starting tomorrow from 7 am to 7 pm with only one person on board.

The directive doesn’t apply to Chennai and containment zones.

Vehicles to be sanitized thrice a day, masks compulsory: State Government

12:35 PM

Chhattisgarh reports 32 new cases

Total active cases stand at 89.

12:09 PM

278 more test positive in Maharashtra Police

In the last 48 hours, 278 police personnel have tested positive for #COVID19. The total number of positive cases in… https://t.co/o62kRwSo53